Jammu Kashmir Bank Signs Co-Lending Deals with HFFC, IIFL Finance For Home and Gold Loan  | Kashmir Life

SRINAGAR: In a move aimed at expanding its retail lending footprint beyond Jammu and Kashmir and improving credit access, Jammu and Kashmir Bank on Saturday formally launched co-lending partnerships with two leading non-banking financial companies for home loans and gold loans.

Under the arrangement, the bank has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with Home First Finance Company India Limited for the home loan segment and IIFL Finance for the gold loan segment.

The agreements were signed during a ceremony held at the bank’s Jammu Zonal Office and presided over by the bank’s Managing Director and CEO Amitava Chatterjee. The event was attended by Executive Director Sudhir Gupta, Chief General Managers Sunit Kumar, Imtiyaz Ahmad Bhat and Rajesh Malla Tickoo, General Manager (RAM) Rakesh Magotra, DGM Aneet Kanwal Singh and other senior officers.

General Manager (S&IT) Mohammad Muzaffar Wani and General Manager and Divisional Head (ROI) Khursheed Muzaffar joined the programme virtually.

On behalf of the bank, General Manager Rakesh Magotra signed both agreements, while Manoj Viswanathan, Managing Director and CEO of Home First Finance Company India Limited, and Kirti Timmanagoudar, Senior Vice President and Head of Strategic Alliances at IIFL Finance, signed for their respective organisations.

Senior officials from Home First Finance Company, including Deputy CEO and Chief Business Officer Ajay Khetan, Head – Treasury and Investor Relations Sunil Anjana and Product Lead – Co-lending Ajinkya Chandorkar, were also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Chatterjee described the initiative as an important milestone in the bank’s retail growth strategy.

“Co-lending is a powerful model that combines the strength of our strong deposit franchise and wide branch network with the domain expertise and agile credit delivery mechanisms of leading NBFCs,” he said. “Through these partnerships, we aim to accelerate credit delivery, deepen financial inclusion and reach customer segments that require customised and timely financial solutions.”

He added that as the bank sharpens its strategic focus on markets in the rest of India, partnerships with established financial institutions would help accelerate growth in key retail segments such as housing and gold loans.

“These collaborations will enable us to tap into new customer segments, strengthen our presence in emerging markets and deliver faster, technology-driven lending solutions,” he said.

Executive Director Sudhir Gupta said the partnerships under the co-lending framework were expected to create strong synergies and open new growth opportunities.

“As we embark on this collaborative journey, I am confident that these partnerships will expand responsible credit delivery while unlocking new opportunities for all stakeholders,” he said.

Earlier, Magotra briefed the bank’s leadership about the strategic importance of the collaboration, noting that partnerships had become a key element in the evolving financial landscape.

“In today’s environment, collaboration is no longer optional — it is a strategic imperative,” he said, adding that the partnerships would expand the bank’s credit outreach in the housing sector and gold loan segment, particularly for small enterprises across the country.

Representatives of the two NBFCs welcomed the partnership and said the bank’s credibility and expanding presence in emerging business centres across India made it a strong partner for delivering responsible credit in the retail lending space.

Through these co-lending arrangements, the bank aims to further strengthen its retail lending ecosystem while advancing its expansion strategy in markets outside Jammu and Kashmir.